The UC Irvine’s Men’s Water Polo team (18-9, 5-0) suffered a season ending loss to conference rival Long Beach State (19-10, 2-3), falling 15-13 in the Big West Championship semifinal at Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis, Calif., on Nov. 23.
Despite entering the tournament as the top seed, Irvine was seeking revenge against the fifth-seeded Beach, who had decisively won the last time the two programs met in a 15-6 match. This was also the last game UCI played before heading into the semifinal.
Long Beach State wasted no time applying pressure, with freshman center Gabi Acosta’s early steal leading to sophomore attacker Marc Frigola’s goal in the first 30 seconds.
After both teams had shots deflected off the post, LBSU senior utility man Bruno Chiappini received an exclusion for a physical altercation with UCI senior center Tyler Padua. The Anteaters took full advantage of the powerplay, as Padua put one behind the keeper to level the game at 1-1.
Long Beach quickly regained the lead, with a goal from freshman attacker Kostantinos Kapragkos, followed by a penalty shot scored from five meters out by redshirt sophomore attacker Caleb Francisco. UCI responded with a goal from sophomore attacker Johann Thrall, assisted by sophomore attacker Gage Verdegaal a mere 14 seconds later.
With only seconds remaining in the first quarter, a Long Beach exclusion on Frigola led to a power-play goal from UCI. Thrall scored his second of the quarter with eight seconds left, tying the match at 3-3. But the action would not end there, as LBSU’s Chiappini fired a bullet past UCI graduate goalkeeper Jacob Pyle with just one second left, giving Long Beach a 4-3 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Irvine struck first in the second quarter, with a goal from freshman attacker Cole Francisco just over a minute in. However, Long Beach immediately regained the lead after a solo goal from freshman attacker Harper Stewart.
After a Long Beach turnover, UCI’s counterattack resulted in an exclusion against Kapragkos. Irvine called a full timeout to assess their power-play opportunity and seized it with a goal from senior attacker Ethan Shipman, leveling the game at 5-5.
Over the next minute, LBSU grew their lead with two power-play goals from Chiappini. Exclusions by UCI senior defender Thomas Cass and Verdegaal would set up the power-play opportunities for the Beach.
The ‘Eaters were able to get one back with a goal from senior utility man Jack Stevens late in the second quarter, but the Anteater momentum was halted after Acosta brought the Long Beach lead back to two with one minute left of play. Long Beach led after the half, 8-6.
After failing to capitalize on an early power-play, Irvine committed an exclusion of their own, resulting in a Long Beach power-play goal from Caleb Francisco. Another UCI exclusion gave way to another Beach power-play goal, this one from freshman center Corbin Stanley. Long Beach soon had their largest lead of the game at 10-6.
Stevens kept Irvine in the game with two goals late in the third quarter, but Long Beach still led 12-9 heading into the final quarter.
The two sides traded goals in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, as LBSU was able to maintain a three-goal advantage for half the quarter. Irvine would not go down quietly though, as Irvine’s Shipman slotted two consecutive goals to make it a one-score game. However, it was not enough as Stewart’s final goal sealed the win for the Beach and clinched a berth in the Big West championship game.
Long Beach’s standouts included Chiappini and Acosta, who each notched three goals, while Caleb Francisco and Stewart had two apiece. Senior goalkeeper Aaron Wilson had seven saves while allowing 13 goals.
Despite the loss, Shipman and Thrall each had a game-high four goals, while Stevens was able to score three. Pyle had 11 saves but allowed 15 goals.
Even with the disappointing result, Shipman and Thrall ended the season second and third in individual points for the Anteaters, respectively, trailing only junior attacker Luka Kristic.
Jordan Hum is a Sports Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. He can be reached at jrhum@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Jaheem Conley